Thursday, January 31, 2008

On Sony, Stubble and Staplers

It would seem that Sony is finally turning a corner with the Playstation 3. This is due in no small part to the onboard Blu-Ray player, arguably the best (and factually the most future-proof) BD player on the market.

It's a shame the public has chosen Blu-Ray over HD-DVD. See, it's not as bad as VHS over Betamax, because the sound/video quality on HDDVDs and BDs is digital as opposed to analog and therefore identical, but Blu-Ray was still a poor choice. HD-DVD players shipped when they were ready to ship, and had the full functionality of HD-DVD right out of the gate. This caught Blu-Ray off guard, however, and forced Sony to rush BD players to the market, without all of the planned functionality.

The reason the PS3 is the best BD player on the market is because it is upgradable, seeing how it has all the hardware and software of the PS3 to back it up. However, standalone Blu-Ray players thus far have not been designed with all the internet functionality in mind and are not capable of major firmware updates. In October, Sony will release BD 2.0, adding all the intended functionality of BD movies... and everybody who owns a standalone player will be screwed. They'll have to purchase a new player to get the most out of their BDs (assuming film companies take advantage of the new features). So I propose a toast to all the uninformed consumers who chose Blu-Ray over HD-DVD. Congrats, you brought it upon yourselves. Enjoy the proprietary bullshit Sony will no doubt try to implement.

The fledgling Genius Squad desk has been relatively quiet lately. Not many people have come in with wireless issues, and those who have were just unfamiliar with computers and didn't have it set up correctly. John might be hiring a co-worker for me as early as Monday, the guy seems cool enough. However, my secret identity, the Staple Avenger, Defender of the Intelliprint, has been busy lately.

There are two staplers on the counter in front of me, intended for public use. Being a college computer lab, the twenty-somethings who pass through are naturally inclined to behave as ten-somethings and break shit all the time. The left stapler is currently out of commission, so I put a paper sign on top of it, reading "Stapler out of order; Working one to your left," and put a big 'ol red arrow pointing to the stapler at the opposite end of the counter. I kid you not, I have seen five people so far causally walk up, read the sign, remove the sign, try the stapler, and bitch at me that it doesn't work. People who clearly speak English as their primary language.

So instead I put the stapler on the desk, and slide it under the counter (which is raised above the desk by a few inches), and keep the sign up on the counter where the stapler used to be. Being a public area, the stapler is tethered down to the counter. Within two minutes of me moving the stapler, somebody walks up, reads the sign, looks at the wire coming from under the sign and going off the counter in front of my workstation, follows the wire with his hand, reaches over and under the counter - right in front of me - and pulls it out. He was quite angry at the lack of a staple in his paper and decided to take it out on me. I told him I was sorry it didn't work out between us.

On an unrelated note, this morning I used a safety razor and brush to shave. Not gonna lie... it makes you feel fucking badass.

Pete's Vocab of the Day"Unfamiliar with computers."un·fa·mil·iar with com·put·ers [uhn-fuh-mil-yer with kəm-pyōō'tər]Adj.1. The state of being inexperienced with the operation of a PC.2. A sodding moron.

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